Individuals spend less on groceries than other developed countries. Unfortunately, we also spend more on unhealthy foods than vegetables and fruit.
Spending less on food
The typical family of four with pets will find it difficult to get by with a $50,000 a year income, and that is the average in the country. There is good news. Compared to other developed countries, we are really spending a lot less on food.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics explained that in 2009, the average household spent $6,372 on food. About $2,619 of that was for food from home and $3,753 was for food in the home. Mother Jones reports that the spending is only 6 percent of the $32,051 annual outlay for the year. The French spend 14 percent on food of the outlay while the British spends 9 percent on food.
An NPR article points out the cause of this. It said that in the last 30 years, American food costs have been dropping.
Maybe Michelle has a point
Recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicates yearly household expenditures on food have ticked up to around 8 percent of annual outlays. However, that is drastically less than the typical household in 1982, when food spending was closer to 13 percent.
Food costs have actually dropped a lot in that time. In fact, no meats went up in price. Steak costs dropped from $7 a pound to $4.90 a pound from 1982 to 2012. Grapefruit prices increased 6.5 percent and bell pepper prices increased 34 percent. Other than that, no other vegetables and fruit increased in price.
You can certainly see changes in what people are spending most of their cash on now compared with 1982 though. Now, people spend about 21.5 percent of the budget on meats when it used to be 31.3 percent. Now, individuals spend 22.9 percent on processed foods and sweets when individuals used to spend 11.6 percent. Fruits and vegetable expenses have stayed almost the same though since they are now at 14.6 percent and they used to be 14.5 percent. Michelle Obama's plan to help kids get healthier is well justified when you consider these statistics.
All thanks to the government
According to Mother Jones, part of the reason we pay less for groceries is decades of agricultural subsidies, which amounted to $261.9 billion from 1995 to 2010. Since 1970, the amount of corn produced in America has gone tripled, increasing from 4 billion bushels to 12 billion last year.
The price of meat went up 8 percent in 2011, and the price of grain doubled. This just shows that costs are beginning to go up, according to Forbes.
Only about 15.8 percent of the cash brought in from selling food goes to the farmer who produced it, which means farmers do not benefit from the low costs, according to the Department of Agriculture. The Daily Green points out that this means farmers need higher costs.
Spending less on food
The typical family of four with pets will find it difficult to get by with a $50,000 a year income, and that is the average in the country. There is good news. Compared to other developed countries, we are really spending a lot less on food.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics explained that in 2009, the average household spent $6,372 on food. About $2,619 of that was for food from home and $3,753 was for food in the home. Mother Jones reports that the spending is only 6 percent of the $32,051 annual outlay for the year. The French spend 14 percent on food of the outlay while the British spends 9 percent on food.
An NPR article points out the cause of this. It said that in the last 30 years, American food costs have been dropping.
Maybe Michelle has a point
Recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicates yearly household expenditures on food have ticked up to around 8 percent of annual outlays. However, that is drastically less than the typical household in 1982, when food spending was closer to 13 percent.
Food costs have actually dropped a lot in that time. In fact, no meats went up in price. Steak costs dropped from $7 a pound to $4.90 a pound from 1982 to 2012. Grapefruit prices increased 6.5 percent and bell pepper prices increased 34 percent. Other than that, no other vegetables and fruit increased in price.
You can certainly see changes in what people are spending most of their cash on now compared with 1982 though. Now, people spend about 21.5 percent of the budget on meats when it used to be 31.3 percent. Now, individuals spend 22.9 percent on processed foods and sweets when individuals used to spend 11.6 percent. Fruits and vegetable expenses have stayed almost the same though since they are now at 14.6 percent and they used to be 14.5 percent. Michelle Obama's plan to help kids get healthier is well justified when you consider these statistics.
All thanks to the government
According to Mother Jones, part of the reason we pay less for groceries is decades of agricultural subsidies, which amounted to $261.9 billion from 1995 to 2010. Since 1970, the amount of corn produced in America has gone tripled, increasing from 4 billion bushels to 12 billion last year.
The price of meat went up 8 percent in 2011, and the price of grain doubled. This just shows that costs are beginning to go up, according to Forbes.
Only about 15.8 percent of the cash brought in from selling food goes to the farmer who produced it, which means farmers do not benefit from the low costs, according to the Department of Agriculture. The Daily Green points out that this means farmers need higher costs.
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